by Anna Lowe
Dawn grinned under her kiss and snuggled closer. Somehow, she didn’t care about any of that. And in a way, it was true. Hunter had shaken her world. In the best possible way.
Chapter Sixteen
Three days later…
“Mmm,” Hunter murmured, rolling in his bed.
A sea breeze whispered over the lawn outside, and a honeycreeper chirped from the trees. The curtains stirred lazily, and though he couldn’t see it, he could imagine the morning sunlight sparkling off a calm sea.
Hunter stretched slowly under the sheets, relishing the warm, limber feeling of his limbs. Nothing beat waking up slowly, prolonging the transition from dreamtime to real life.
Real life is even better than a dream, his bear said with a smug yawn.
He flexed his fingers over Dawn’s and snuggled her closer. Everything was okay. More than okay — everything was perfect. The Vanderpelt wedding was over. The Rolls Royce was back in the garage, and best of all, Dawn was in his bed, tucked close to him.
His bear was right. Sometimes, real life was better than a dream — though both were pretty damn good. He’d been dreaming of an idyllic Maui wedding. Not Regina’s — God, no. That had fallen apart the night the little brat threw her engagement ring into the sea. The newspapers, of course, had been all over the story in the following days.
Celebrity bride jilts groom, cancels wedding of the century.
Divers on the hunt for missing $100,000 ring.
Teary bride seen leaving Maui on private jet. Flower bill unpaid.
All of Maui exhaled when the Vanderpelts departed, it seemed.
The papers were so busy with gossip that the disappearance of Jericho Deroux was a mere footnote on page three of the Maui News. Alaskan Pipeline Boss Missing — Lost in Surf?
Hunter tightened his arms around Dawn. When he kissed her shoulder, she sighed and turned in his arms, giving him a sleepy smile. “Good morning.”
Best morning of my life, his bear murmured for the third day in a row. Hunter figured he’d be saying that every morning for the rest of his life.
“Morning,” he whispered, gently brushing a finger over her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and her chest rose in deep, sleepy breaths.
“Is that you purring?” she mumbled a second later.
“That’s Keiki.”
The calico kitten had disappeared early the previous night, as she always did when the bedroom heated up. Which meant Keiki had spent most of the previous seventy-two hours elsewhere — most likely with Cruz, considering how much time Hunter and Dawn had spent wrapped around each other in sweaty ecstasy. For now, Keiki was back, settled comfortably on the mattress behind Dawn, purring more loudly than such a tiny thing ought to be capable of.
“Mmm. I had the best dream,” Dawn murmured.
Hunter twirled a wisp of her silky hair — another dream come true — as he waited for more.
“A wedding. Our wedding.”
His breath caught in his throat. He’d been dreaming the same thing.
“You and me and a handful of guests, right here on the lawn at Koa Point,” Dawn went on.
Hunter’s hand trembled a little in the kitten’s soft fur. He’d imagined it the exact same way. Just him and Dawn with the handful of guests. The people who really mattered. Kai, Cruz, Boone, and Silas — the men he’d been through so much with over the years — and of course Tessa, Nina, Lily, Dawn’s mother, and a few of Dawn’s friends.
“Was Lily wearing a pink and orange muumuu?” he asked, holding perfectly still.
Dawn’s eyes shot open. “How did you know?”
“I had the same dream.”
The other details matched too, as they discovered in talking it over.
“There was a beautiful vase of wild iris and another of pitaya,” Dawn murmured.
Hunter swallowed the lump in his throat before answering. “The iris is for my mother and the pitaya for Georgia Mae, my foster mother.”
Dawn ran a hand down his arm, and the sorrow eased away again.
“Georgia Mae,” Dawn murmured. “I was wondering about her. You said she was an owl shifter, right?”
He nodded her along silently.
“Do you think that has anything to do with me and my aumakua?”
He smoothed a hand over Dawn’s silky hair and looked deep into her eyes. “Honestly? I don’t know. It could be that her spirit and your aumakua connect somehow. All I know is that destiny has its own way of revealing things.”
They stared at each other, letting the seconds tick by as they chewed the thought over. But destiny was such a mystery to Hunter, he never got far thinking it through. He was just grateful to have been granted his mate.
Maybe the wedding wasn’t a dream, his bear whispered, full of hope. Maybe it was a vision.
Hunter’s lips moved, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. He just hoped and hoped, losing himself in the depths of Dawn’s dark eyes.
“I like the idea of a wedding,” he ventured at last. Most shifters didn’t bother, but never mind that — he’d be happy for any and all forms of making a vow to his mate.
“I like the idea, too,” she said.
His chest tightened as if his heart had just swelled to twice its size.
“Really?”
She nodded. “Really.”
He played back over his dream until he got to the “I do” part.
“Really?” he whispered, just to make sure.
She laughed then kissed him. “Really.”
He closed his eyes, trying not to get too far ahead of himself with visions of all the happy years ahead. He and Dawn could spend some time settling in together. Maybe a couple of years down the line, if Dawn agreed, they could have a few cubs. Cubs that would be cherished, loved, and above all, protected by the shifters of Koa Point. Maybe he could take them and Dawn to see Alaska someday. Maybe…
He reeled his thoughts back in before he got all the way up to growing old with Dawn — but hell, that sounded like bliss, too.
“You know what else I dreamed about?” Dawn added. Her voice grew lower, edgier.
He stroked her shoulders. “What?”
She ran a hand over his bare chest and up to her neck. “The mating bite,” she whispered.
His heart beat faster. Harder. She’d said dream not nightmare, right?
He’d done his best to explain everything to her over the past few days, vowing never to keep a secret from his true love again. The whole time, he’d been terrified that the details would freak her out. After all, having three-inch fangs puncture your throat would sound pretty barbaric to a human, though mated shifters called the experience the high of their lives.
“Nina said—”
Hunter’s head popped off the pillow. “Nina?”
Dawn blushed. “She, Tessa, and I had a girls’ talk yesterday. Remember, while you guys did the dishes and we walked down to the beach?”
Hunter blanched, wondering how much graphic detail they had shared. He studied Dawn’s face, blushing a little. She was blushing too. But when he looked closer, he realized the pink hue didn’t stem from fear or embarrassment. It was arousal.
He sniffed covertly and, yes — there it was. The sweet, sugary scent in the air.
Dawn fluttered her eyelids shyly before going on. “Nina said it was amazing. Tessa did, too.”
Hunter made a mental note to hunt down the nicest flowers on Maui for those two.
His bear grinned inside, and a slow, languid heat wave spread through his veins.
Dawn’s hand trailed up and down his chest, dipping lower every time, making his cock hard. Her eyes shone brighter. Her fingers pressed more firmly on his skin until his cock strained upward, desperate for her touch.
He shifted his hands from her waist to her sides, teasing her breasts.
“Nina said she liked it so much, they do it all the time.”
Hunter wasn’t sure he wanted to hear much more about Nina
and Boone’s sex life, but yes, he’d heard about that, too. That the mating bite could be repeated as a couple renewed their bond throughout their lives.
Dawn drew her ankle along his calf. Her hair fanned out over the pillow, and her nipples peaked. When he eased his hand over her breast, she arched her back and groaned.
“Hunter, I don’t just want the mating bite. I need it,” she said in an achy, urgent voice. She drew her leg higher along his, opening to him. On the next downstroke of her hand, she teased her fingers over his cock.
Hunter sucked in a breath. He’d fought off the urge to claim his mate for so long, he thought he’d go crazy. The quiet bliss of the past few days had taken the edge off, but the moment Dawn mentioned mating, the burning need came back.
He rolled over her and pinned her free hand over her head, leaving just enough space between their bodies for her to keep one hand wrapped around his cock.
“Sorry, Keiki,” Dawn giggled as the kitten fled.
“Bye, Keiki,” he murmured then turned to Dawn, growing serious. “Mating is forever. More permanent and more complete than marriage can ever be.”
“Good.” Her eyes blazed.
“It’s not just for a lifetime. They say the bond holds into the afterlife.”
“I want that, Hunter. I want you.”
He closed his eyes, feeling as if he could skip through a field of wildflowers. As if there were a dozen harps playing in the room next door hitting a high, yearning note.
His hands trembled, a lot like his voice. “I want you, Dawn. I wanted you for years. More than anything. But you need to be sure. It will make you a shifter, too.”
She reared off the mattress to press her lips to his. “Does this feel sure?”
The second her mouth covered his, he moaned.
“Does this feel sure?” she murmured, running her hand up and down his cock.
Fireworks exploded throughout his body, setting off jolts of desire. His cock pushed at her hip as he lowered his head to her breast, unable to hold back.
“Yes…” she panted, arching into him. “Yes…”
He’d only meant to brush his lips over her nipple, but he ended up consuming it, rolling the tight bud between his lips and sucking hard.
“Yes…” she groaned. “Hunter…”
She released his cock, grabbed his free hand, and guided it between her legs. “Please, Hunter.”
Over the past few days, they’d bounced between sheer ecstasy and limp bliss dozens of times, but the urgency that gripped them now was something entirely new. As if a flame ignited by destiny at the end of a long fuse had finally reached the dynamite.
Now, his body screamed. Claim her now.
He circled his hand over her core, then dipped inside. One finger then two, moving easily, spreading her slick heat.
She’s ready. So, so ready, his bear cried, feeling her flesh yield under his.
Dawn gripped his shoulders and cried his name.
He stretched his hand wide, circling her clit with his thumb while his fingers probed deeper.
“So good,” she moaned, lifting her hips toward his.
He released her breast, took a quick breath, and claimed her mouth again. Insistently. Moving his tongue over hers the way he wanted to let his cock stroke over her sex.
Dawn — his beautiful, controlled Dawn — writhed and mumbled under his body, letting it all go.
She likes letting go, his bear said. She needs to let go.
He plunged his fingers and tongue deeper, faster, driving her body further and further into a sensual cloud. Dawn pushed desperately against him, scraping her nails over his back.
Hunter…
He swore he could hear her hungry cries in his mind.
I can. I do, his bear hummed.
In a dizzying rush, he put his hands beside her head, nudged her legs wider, and centered his cock over her entrance, where it pulsed greedily.
What are you waiting for? his bear cried.
Dawn’s eyes flew open and locked on his.
That. That was what he was waiting for. That extra connection. That assurance that she was absolutely, positively sure.
The second she nodded, he plunged in.
The high hit him in six places at once. His cock burned, relishing the tight squeeze. His head tilted back, and his lips threw silent groans at the ceiling. His hips thrust, almost pushing him off-balance.
“Yes…” Dawn moaned, moving in time with him.
It wasn’t him making love to her so much as fate orchestrating a masterpiece, and all he could do was ride the wave that swept both of them away.
He dropped to his elbows, huffing into her neck as their rhythm quickened. Dawn’s hair formed a curtain, trapping her incredible scent. He pressed his face closer to her skin, pumping his hips the whole time.
Neck… Mate… Mine… his bear chanted inside.
When he nipped the soft skin of her neck, Dawn tipped her head, making space for him. He flicked his tongue, tasting her, searching for the spot, letting instinct guide him. Running his stubbly chin up and down the notch of her neck, he could sense her pulse, feel the waves of heat course under her skin.
“Hunter…” she moaned, clutching the back of his head.
His canines extended in a slow, painful slide that felt almost as good as Dawn clenching over his cock.
Mate… his bear called. Mine…
He scraped his teeth over her skin until the pressure building in his body grew too much to bear.
At the exact moment that he exploded inside her, he bit.
Hunter sank his teeth deep and hung on. The sensation was like being caught in the waves that had carried them to shore a few days earlier, but in a good way. That rush of sound and sensation. That sense of some greater force taking control. The instinct to hold his breath and clench every muscle tight.
Dawn clutched at him the way she had on the beach, and her body shuddered again and again.
So good… Yes… More… she begged.
He could hear her thoughts. Could she hear his?
My mate… Love you… Need you…
Slowly, he withdrew his teeth but kept his lips sealed around her neck as his shifter essence circulated through her veins.
Time to let go, instinct murmured a few heartbeats later.
But he never wanted to let go.
You are bonded now. It’s time to let go.
He tightened his arms around Dawn’s body, letting his lips soften gradually. He ran his tongue over the bite mark, feeling the skin heal as he released.
She is safe. You can let go.
He dropped free and panted into the pillow beside her head, progressively releasing every taut muscle in his body.
“Oh my God,” Dawn whispered.
He froze. Was she hurt? Bleeding? Full of regret?
She hummed, going boneless against him. “That feels so good.”
Hunter let out a long, relieved breath.
“Promise me we get to do that again…and again?” she breathed.
Hunter laughed — a laugh that started deep in his heart and rumbled through his chest before eventually escaping to the room. “I promise,” he said, hugging her tight. “I promise, my mate.”
Epilogue
“So, what happens now?” Cruz growled.
Dawn pursed her lips, looking at the men and women gathered in the meeting house at Koa Point that evening. A sea breeze drifted in and out of the open structure much like little Keiki wound around Dawn’s legs. Crickets chirped all around, and tiny sparks snapped upward from the tiki torches that lit the paths converging on the meeting house.
Hours earlier, Dawn had experienced the high of her life. She’d been glowing from the mating bite all afternoon. Then she’d slept the soundest sleep of her life, and her body still tingled. In fact, she’d been sleeping well ever since coming to Koa Point. Which probably had more to do with the reassuring grip of Hunter’s arms around her than the modest comforts of the cottage h
e lived in. The house was a pretty, green structure with white trim, built in classic plantation style. A place that felt so much like home, she would have been happy to move right in. She even had a corner picked out for her antique Victrola. They had agreed to a week at her place and a week at his, for starters, but she could already tell where they’d end up. And, heck, who could blame her? Koa Point Estate was amazing, and the gates seemed to hold the troubles of the world at bay.
At some point in the blissful haze of the afternoon, Boone had come along to call them to the meeting, and anxiety tinged the edges of her world again.
“What are you doing?” she’d asked when Hunter rubbed his shoulder against the doorframe on the way out of the cottage.
His eyes dropped in chagrin. “It’s kind of a bear thing,” he shrugged, trying to downplay what she sensed was significant. “We like to mark our turf.”
She’d laughed, but when he kept his shoulder pressed against hers in the meeting house, a happy little shiver went through her. A shiver that said, I’m his, and he’s mine.
And boy did she need him now. Night had fallen, the meeting had begun, and Cruz’s grim words silenced the room.
So, what happens now?
Dawn forced herself not to fidget as she looked around.
The shifters of Koa Point were all there — in human form, thank goodness. Although she’d learned her lesson about good and bad shifters, a little bit of anxiety remained when she faced the others. Boone and Nina, who could both shift into wolf form. Cruz, the tiger she owed her life to. Kai, Tessa, and Silas, who were all dragon shifters. Dragons, for goodness’ sake!
You’ll be a shifter soon, too, Hunter had explained to her.
Strangely, the thought didn’t terrify her. In fact, she was curious what it would be like. Still, living among so many shifters would take a lot of getting used to.
Having Hunter there helped, as did Keiki. The kitten skipped over to Cruz’s legs and purred loudly. When Cruz — lean, hard-faced Cruz, who carried the same kind of wounded warrior vibe Hunter once had — smiled slightly and scooped the kitten up against his chest, Dawn’s jaw nearly dropped. He held Keiki protectively, staring into the distance, stroking her fur. The man was more like Hunter than she’d guessed. A protector, not an instigator. A man who would lay down his life for a noble cause.
